An executive order temporarily suspends parts of CEQA and Coastal Commission requirements.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Sunday, Jan. 12, temporarily suspending two California environmental laws in order to speed rebuilding in Los Angeles County wildfire zones.
The order lifts, with certain limitations, permitting and review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Act.
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Suspending the rules clears the decks for builders to jumpstart rebuilding homes and buildings throughout areas impacted by the wildfires, which have burned more than 39,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades, Eaton Canyon, Lidia, Sunset and Woodley areas of suburban Los Angeles.
More than 12,000 structures have burned or been destroyed in the fires.
Also see: Eaton, Palisades fires slow as containment grows, 16 dead; firefighters prepare for new winds
Newsom on Sunday noted the difficulty of those displaced having to now search for housing in a market where everyone already spends at least 30% of their income on rent.
“When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks,” the governor said.
The order also extends protections against price gouging on building materials, storage services, construction and other essential goods and services to Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Steve Hudson, a district director with the California Coastal Commission (CCC) who works with several Southern California counties, said his team already has fielded a significant number of calls on the recovery process. “We are actively reaching out with local governments and their staffs to assist in the recovery efforts.”
How to get help: Resources for wildfire victims
The Palisades fire grew by less than 100 acres overnight, according to Cal Fire estimates. It’s estimated at 23,707 acres and 11% contained. The Eaton fire also remained about the same size at 14,117 acres, while the containment estimate jumped overnight to 27% from 15%.
As of Sunday, the number of evacuations stood at 105,000 under mandatory evacuation and 87,000 under evacuation warnings.
Map: See where the major fires are burning in Los Angeles County
There have been 16 confirmed deaths from the fires, including 11 attributed to the Eaton fire and five to the Palisades fire, according to a County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner update Saturday evening.
CEQA and coastal act suspended
The order signed by Newsom temporarily suspends the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Act, allowing victims of the recent fires to more quickly restore their homes and businesses.
CEQA, a landmark law passed in California in 1970 and signed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, created an approval system for building projects that essentially slowed any development to a snail’s pace.
Related: Staff photographer shares images of his hometown of Altadena, destroyed in fire
The order will help cut permitting delays by suspending environmental reviews and Coastal Commission permitting requirements for restoring damaged or demolished homes that are substantially in the same location and the same size as before the fires. To qualify, for example, homes must not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of structures that existed before the emergency, the order said.
Newsom called the order “an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger.”
The governor also ordered state agencies to identify more ways to streamline the rebuilding and recovery process. He directed them to identify additional permitting requirements and building codes that can safely be suspended or streamlined to make it more affordable for the thousands of homeowners and businesses hit hard by the fires to rebuild quickly.
Dan Dunmoyer, president and chief executive of the California Building Industry Association, called the executive order “really positive.”
“The governor is signaling the people literally sleeping on someone’s couch or in a hotel, my focus is to get you back in your home as soon as possible,” Dunmoyer said.
In California, CEQA and the Coastal Commission “are our two road blocks to building anything, and he’s signaling those two roadblocks will be removed.”
L.A. wildfires’ economic toll: Devastating losses followed by burst of building
The saddest part is that there will not be enough insurance for the mostly middle-class people who lost their homes in the Eaton fire to rebuild, given the cost of building materials and contractors. Many people have no large savings. The developers will swoop in and create new neighborhoods and new market-rate housing not affordable for the previous residents, as has been reported in the aftermath of the Maui fires.
CEQA review and approval has never been a requirement for rebuilding your home destroyed by fire. This is like Newsom declaring it is OK for you to use a hammer. Ok…Thank You
executive order “really positive.”……………………………….
After seeing what Democrat Gov’s have promised and delivered on would anyone believe the long range promises will be kept?
The long knives of the left will be out and it will not take them 6 months to press for modifications.
Oh and have you forgotten the wildfire containment programs Slick never followed through on?